AUGUSTA As lawmakers began work on a proposal to revamp Maine’s workers’ compensation system Wednesday in Augusta, some Democrats were skeptical about plans to cap how long injured workers can collect benefits in some cases. The Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee’s work session followed a Feb. 17 public hearing that ran for almost […]

AUGUSTA As expected, it took less than 24 hours for Maine’s entire political landscape to be turned upside down after the sudden announcement Tuesday from U. S. Sen. Olympia Snowe that she was dropping her bid for a fourth term. The three biggest names in the Maine Democratic Party all began gathering signatures to run […]

BATH I tell people it’s a love story,” playwright Cassia Tirrell said Monday afternoon. “The fairies are breaking free and they’re into this other world now, able to explore this different life … They’re much more magical and light than a normal human being. They’re so much happier. Except for the harpies, who are very […]

LONDON ( AP) — James Murdoch is stepping down as executive chairman of News Corp.’s U.K. newspaper arm, the company said today. News Corp. said James, the son of 80-year-old media scion Rupert Murdoch, has relinquished his position at News International to focus on the company’s international TV business. He will remain deputy chief operating […]

DALLAS (AP) — Years after Jacques Roy started filing paperwork that would have made his practice the busiest Medicare provider in the U.S., authorities say they’ve found most of his work was a lie. They accused Roy on Tuesday of “ selling his signature” to collect Medicare and Medicaid payments for work that was never […]

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least one person has been killed and numerous injuries and significant damage were reported early today as a line of possible tornadoes moved across the Midwest. The death happened when a possible tornado hit a mobile home park in southwest Missouri, south of Buffalo, said Lt. Dana Eagan of the […]

CHARDON, Ohio ( AP) — The 17-year-old suspect in a deadly shooting rampage at an Ohio high school appeared briefly in juvenile court as residents of the shaken community offered sympathy and support for families and friends of the three students who were killed and two who were wounded. A prosecutor described suspect T.J. Lane […]

JACKSON (AP) — A man was arrested Tuesday on a murder charge in the case of a firefighter from Florida who had been missing in Maine since mid-February, said police, who are calling the killing drug-related. State police charged Daniel Porter, 24, of Bangor, in the death of Jerry Perdomo of Orange City, Fla., who […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Waterville man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for pushing his 4- month- old daughter’s face into a cushion to stop her from crying, leaving visible swelling and bruising on her head. Robert Phillips pleaded guilty Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court to aggravated assault. The 37-year-old Phillips was […]

PORTAND (AP) — A Maine man has been sentenced to 45 days in prison for misappropriating postal funds. Prosecutors say 25-year-old Robert Parent, of Winterville, also was ordered on Tuesday to pay more than $18,000 in restitution and to serve one year of supervised release. Court records say Parent’s duties while employed at the Mechanic […]